Grey's Birthday
by Mustardlover16
Summary: One shot. Derek struggles to find the perfect way to celebrate Meredith's Birthday. Fluff Galore.


"Derek. I don't do birthdays, remember?"

He hummed noncommittally, ducking to kiss her cheek as they made their way to the elevator.

 _Meredith had spent all day avoiding the subject of her birthday. Bailey, Webber, and Robins had all wished her a happy birthday, to which she had responded with an awkward smile, a nod and an about face, striding in the opposite directing as soon as she could. Christina had spent the whole talking about anything_ but _Meredith's birthday, which she was grateful for. Christina had managed, however, to arrange a surgery which she, Meredith and Alex all scrubbed in for. Of course Meredith knew this was a birthday present, but it wasn't presented as such, and it was a careful and easy procedure. Meredith was the lead on the case, as it was her birthday._

 _They surgery performed was a cholecystectomy on a 17 year old girl who had been having abdominal pain for about a week. In all honesty, Yang had no reason to be in the OR, nor did Karev (although technically he could get away with it because she was a pediatric patient) but nobody, not Bailey, Webber nor Hunt comment on just exactly why Dr. Grey, an attending General Surgeon, needed a Cardiac consult from the head of Cardiothoracics, or why she was being assisted by a Pediatric attending when she clearly had everything under control._

 _Alex had offered his support by shooing off the interns who kept trying to get on Medusa's good side with "Birthday Coffee"._

" _Gimme that." He had yanked the latte out of Leah's hands, sipped it and grimaced. "You call this coffee? What are you gawking at? Beat it!" Leah and the other interns scuttled off. Meredith smiled at Alex._

" _I see what you're doing. You can stop, Alex. I don't need you to scare off my interns. Medusa can do that all on her own."_

" _Well Medusa can thank me later, because I just saved her from the worst excuse for coffee I have ever tasted." They had smirked at each other good naturedly, then Alex patted her on the upper arm once, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze as he headed off to his next surgery._

"Derek, seriously."

"I am serious." He said, now standing directly behind her in the otherwise empty elevator. He planted a kiss on her shoulder, then leaned into a kiss on her neck. Despite her words she leaned into his affection, her hands resting on his, which she found hugged around her stomach. "Come on, Meredith. Go out to dinner with me. It's just dinner."

"Just _birthday_ dinner." She corrected.

"Always so bossy." He muttered into her hair playfully. She elbowed his ribs softly in reply. "Go to dinner with me." He commanded softly. Maybe if he McDreamied her, just a bit...

"No, Derek."

He stepped out from behind her, pressed the emergency stop button and spun on his heel to face her. "Please, Meredith? Please go to dinner with me?" He tilted his head, smiled softly and placed a hand strategically on her cheek.

"Derek." She scoffed. "Derek Christopher Shepherd. You better not be doing what I think you're doing because if you are, I will kill you."

"I'm asking you to dinner. No need to get all scalpel crazy."

"You are trying to McDreamy me."

He smiled at her with his eyes and his lips, nodded a bit and conceded, "Ah, you foiled me."

"Good Lord, Derek."

"You know, you used to be this adamant about not dating me. In fact, you told me you would not sleep with me, or kiss me or date me, ever. That's what you told me right in this very elevator." He leaned forward and whispered huskily in her ear, "And look how well that turned out."

She flinched involuntarily toward him. She was losing the willpower to resist his McDreamy charms very quickly.

"Derek, you know why I'm so intent on this. Birthdays, and family gatherings and parties, they're not really my thing."

"But they can be." He encouraged.

"Do you want to hear about the last birthday I celebrated?" Derek only sighed. He didn't, but he wasn't going to stop her either. "I was five. My father had already run out and mom had been in and out of the hospital after her suicide...whatever. My birthday was the day we moved out of the house, only, I was the only one who remembered. Ellis shipped us off to Boston, and I was sitting in the back of the car, knowing that I was the only one who knew. We drove all day and into the night. I just sat in my car seat and sang "happy birthday" under my breath until Ellis snapped that she needed me to be quiet so she could concentrate. I ate cheerios and sat in my car seat. Two months later Ellis handed me the Anatomy Jane doll she had forgotten to give me."

Derek kissed her forehead sympathetically, one hand pressing her head toward him by the base of her skull, the other kneading gently into one of her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I am. But I'm here now, on your birthday, and I haven't forgotten. I know it's your birthday, and I want to celebrate it. I want to celebrate the fact that you're alive and I'm alive despite all the plane crashes and gunman and bomb blasts and terrible birthdays."

She sighed up at him, meeting his gaze steadily with a determined, if touched, stare.

"Fine, then, you'll have to play the hard way. I'm not letting you off this elevator until you agree to dinner with me."

"Sexual harassment." She stated.

"Who's going to believe you? I'm your husband now. Face it. You're going to dinner with me." She said nothing, and he almost thought he had won, but her thoughts were betrayed when she glanced quickly and the Emergency stop button which she intended to un-click. She lunged but he stepped in front of her, arms outstretched and body stiff. She slammed into him and then was forced backward, against the wall of the elevator, as he pushed her there. He laughed as she squirmed, trying to escape, but his body imprisoned her firmly against the back wall. "It's been awhile since the last time we were in this position on an elevator." He said, eyebrows lifting suggestively.

Meredith laughed, more an amused, exasperated exhale than anything, as she recalled their first steamy elevator kiss. Derek smiled down at her. They both knew he was winning. "Doctor Grey?" He prompted.

"Alright, alright. I'll go to dinner. Fine. Just promise it won't be anything big."

"Yes, Dear." He intoned triumphantly. He hit the elevator's emergency button again, and the elevator continued its previous descent to the first floor. He tipped his head forward, intent only on a quick peck to his wife's lips, but which soon became a very long, very sweet kiss. Her hands were the ones which first locked him into place, thumbs hooked by his ears, long, dexterous fingers buried in the mane he called hair. Derek, ever the attentive husband, and not one to refuse Meredith _anything,_ contented himself with his hands on her hips, and his lips moving in time with hers.

She broke away when the elevator reached the ground floor, breathing slightly, pleasantly hitched. "Alright, you, have at it." She said affectionately. And with that he lead her to the car.

They pulled up to a small building which Meredith had never noticed in all her visits to downtown Seattle. Meredith turned a questioning eye to Derek, but he simply smiled, stepped out of the car and carefully rushed to her side of the car, opening her door with a teasing flourish. Despite herself, Meredith smiled. Derek's smile at the sight grew tenfold. He loved being the best at things, and he was one of the only people who could make Meredith smile like that.

Arm in arm the couple entered the building Meredith could only assume was a restaurant. The sign labeled it "The Jukebox". The Parking lot was only half full, but the landscaping and outside of the building looked well kept and neat. Upon entering the restaurant, Meredith's eyes were immediately to the mid-sized dance floor to the left, lit with colorful, festive lights. Meredith's eyes swiveled to Derek's and break-neck speed. Again, Derek's only response was a wide, toothy smile.

"Derek!" Meredith's voice betrayed surprise and confusion, but was in no way angry. "But you hate dancing in public." She should know. Christina and Meredith had visited plenty of dance clubs around town, and had, on many occasions, invited their respective significant others, Owen and Derek. While Owen had occasionally bent to Christina's hip-swishing will laughingly, Derek had always politely declined, preferring to stand at the bar with a single-malt scotch and watch Meredith's frankly spastic, adorable dancing.

"But you don't."

"Derek." She began, and he thought he was in for a lecture, but instead she said, "You're kind of perfect...It's gross." He laughed at that.

"Perfect is boring." He said, as they took seats at the bar. "Perfect is overrated. I'm flawed. You're flawed, and you're beautiful."

"Yeah, so _not_ helping the 'perfect is boring' case right now," She kissed him soundly. Quickly he ordered both of them a glass of wine and some artery clogging bar snacks. "No, no." Meredith cut in, decidedly, asking the bartender to forget the wine. "You're going to need something stronger than that to get you dancing. Two shots of tequila, please." Derek barked a laugh. The bartender obliged, pulling out two shot glasses and poured their shots. Meredith, smiling widely, slid one to Derek, and swiped her own up comfortably. Derek shook his head at Meredith. She had a challenge in her eyes, one brow cocked. The great Derek Shepherd never backed down from a challenge. He reached for his own glass, touched his glass to hers and knocked back the Tequila. It burned and he fought his body's urge to cough. Meredith smiled knowingly, easily knocking her own shot down.

Meredith stood, shoulders shaking and head nodding to the beat of the latest song. Derek shook his head again, smiling as he did so. She reached out toward him, hand outstretched. Derek looked dubiously at her hand. "Birthday," she mouthed slyly. With a grin and a glance to heavens, he stood from his bar stool and took her hand and allowed her to drag him onto the dance floor.


End file.
